No Ravichandran Ashwin in Tom Moody’s India playing XI for WTC final, Ajinkya Rahane finds a place
There is no place for veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in former Australian cricketer Tom Moody’s predicted playing XI for the Indian team for the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final. Moody has, however, named Ajinkya Rahane in the middle order, predicting a comeback in the playing XI for the experienced batter.
India are preparing to take on Australia in the WTC final, which will be played at The Oval in London from June 7 to 11. In the build-up to the mega clash, several former cricketers have been naming their predicted squads for the two teams.
In a video on Star Sports, Moody also picked the Indian playing XI he would prefer for the WTC final against Australia. While admitting that choosing the playing XI for the Indian team was not as easy as the Australian XI, he named Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Virat Kohli as his top four batters on expected lines.
“Five will see a comeback, I feel, for Ajinkya Rahane. That brings a bit of experience into that middle-order,” he commented about the No. 5 position.
Moody also chose KS Bharat ahead of Ishan Kishan as the keeper-batter. Further, he picked all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur but left out Ashwin.
“No. 6 wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat ahead of Ishan Kishan, I feel. Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur. This is the concern for India - their batting depth. There are a few all-rounders in there,” the Australian explained.
He rounded up the Indian playing XI by picking three pacers - Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Umesh Yadav.
Tom Moody’s India playing XI for WTC final: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav
Harbhajan Singh shares his views on the wicketkeeper debate in India’s WTC squad
Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh reckons Bharat should keep wickets for India in the WTC final against Australia instead of Kishan.
He, however, added that he would have preferred Wriddhiman Saha or KL Rahul if they were part of the squad.
"That's because KS Bharat has been playing for a while. Had Wriddhiman Saha been there, I would have said he should play because he's more experienced and a better wicketkeeper," Harbhajan told Star Sports.
“If KL Rahul was fit, I would have played him ahead of KS Bharat at No. 5-6 because he's an opener and his game is good. He would've been my wicketkeeper too," he added.
Bharat scored only 101 runs from six innings at an average of 20.20 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year.